China's Local Governments Boost Borrowing

BEIJING—China's local governments ramped up their efforts to borrow in 2012, raising concerns that the rebound in growth in the world's second-largest economy has come at the expense of increasing financial risks.

China's local governments borrowed big in 2009 and 2010, taking debt levels to around 10.7 trillion yuan ($1.7 trillion), according to government data, as they financed a huge infrastructure stimulus. That led to worries...